Don’t be confused by the dictionary definitions for …

Auxiliary verbs

Definition, explanation, explanatory videos & online quizzes!

noun

GRAMMAR

plural noun: auxiliary verbs

a verb used in forming the tenses, moods, and voices of other verbs. The primary auxiliary verbs in English are be, do, and have ; the modal auxiliaries are can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, and would.

An example of a continuous tense is the present continuous or past continuous. These verbs are called stative, or state verbs. A verb which isn’t stative is called a dynamic verb, and is usually an action. Often stative verbs are about liking or disliking something, or about a mental state, not about an action.

Objectives
1. Review quiz

2. Homework check – text meaning

3. Reading about linear and natural time

4. Conjunctions matching exercise

5. Conjunctions kahoots!

What is a discourse marker in English?

Discourse markers are words and phrases used in speaking and writing to ‘signpost’ discourse. Discourse markers do this by showing turns, joining ideas together, showing attitude, and generally controlling communication. Some people regard discourse markers as a feature of spoken language only.

adjective – English is important. Coming to class on time is important.

adverb – People shouldn’t stay on their phones for too long, more importantly young people shouldn’t even have phones. Ever!

more & most = comparative + superlative

I like ice cream, indeed it’s my favourite food.

British weather is not always amazing, in the case of the recent floods many people’s houses have been ruined.

The difference between the verbs ‘to compare’ and ‘to contrast’ seems to have caused some heated debate. Probably more than it should. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it’s the perenial potato debate. Which do you prefer? Sweet potatoes or old fashioned regular potatoes? Or how about yams? Surely a discussion about potatoes couldn’t cause so much argument, could it?

Let’s look at the meaning of ‘to contrast’ first because it’s easier to understand:

So the potatoes are rounder, and obviously, the sweet potatoes are ummm sweeter. I’m not doing very well here….

Cleveland Health Clinic explain that, “Sweet potatoes provide 400% of your daily requirement of vitamin A. They also have more vitamin C, fewer calories, more fibre and fewer total carbs than white potatoes, despite more sugar. But don’t forget white potatoes — they’re more versatile in cooking and less expensive.“

So that’s the contrast sorted. Fine. We’re happy with that. One is usually white the other is usually orange. Contrast! Easy… So, to compare:

But – we also use ‘to compare’ – to talk about similarities and to decide which thing is better. We can make chips out of potatoes and sweet potatoes; the taste is different but overall I prefer regular potatoes:

Indeed, statistically speaking, men get a much better deal out of marriage than their wives—married men tend to live many years longer than single men, whereas married women live only a little bit longer than single women.

Do men live longer if they are married?

Men who have marital partners also live longer than men without spouses; men who marry after age 25 get more protection than those who tie the knot at a younger age, and the longer a man stays married, the greater his survival advantage over his unmarried peers.

In spite of and despite

In spite of and despite have a similar meaning to although or even though. They express a contrast between two things. They are both more common in writing than in speaking. Despite is a little more formal than in spite of.

We usually use in spite of and despite with a noun:

He got the job in spite of his prison record.

[recession is a time when the economy of a country is not good]

John’s company is doing extremely well despite the recession.

We can also use in spite of and despite with –ing:

He was very fast in spite of being terribly overweight.

They arrived late despite leaving in plenty of time.

Warning:

We don’t use a that-clause after in spite of or despite. We use in spite of the fact that or despite the fact that:

When they arrived at Malaga it was hot, in spite of the fact that it was only the end of April.

Not: … in spite of that it was only the end of April

In spite of is written as three separate words. We never use of with despite:

They enjoyed the rides in spite of the long queues. (or … despitethe long queues.)

In the context of the text what does flubalub… mean in the text? – use the dictionary BUT DON’T JUST READ THE 1ST MEANING – words mean different things. The examining board are trying to test you (obviously!)

The content of the text is: biased, factual, fictional, first hand, detached. See – Objective information does not vary, whereas subjective information can vary greatly from person to person or day to day. Subjectivity can actually be wrong, or far from the truth, whereas objectivity means being as close to the truth as possible.12 Jun 2014

Collective nouns are often very peculiar and very particular. You don’t need to know them all (most people don’t), but they are fun to know and make for excellent conversation starters if you’re a language geek!

A) Check out these lists of collective nouns on buzzle.com then try the online tests: